We get so many sequels these days, most of them totally unnecessary, a lot of them largely unwanted. But their predecessors made money, their producers want to make more money, and so sequels get made.
One recent movie that seemed primed for many sequels but never got one was The Nice Guys, writer/director Shane Black’s hilarious buddy comedy starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe. At the end of the film, Gosling and Crowe’s characters have become fast friends and decide to start their own detective agency called “The Nice Guys.” In other words, the movie was an origin story without the audience quite realizing it until that very moment., It was the perfect starting point for a franchise… except the franchise never happened.
Ryan Gosling explained why in a recent interview with ComicBook.com. According to him, the reason The Nice Guys never got the sequel it so rightfully deserved was … The Angry Birds Movie.
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“So much of a sequel, I think, is decided by the opening weekend of a movie,” Gosling explained, “and we opened up against Angry Birds. So Angry Birds just, just destroyed us. Angry Birds got a sequel.”
The Nice Guys wound up earning $63 million in theaters. The Angry Birds Movie grossed $352 million worldwide. Both opened against Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising and it outgrossed The Nice Guys as well; it made over $100 million in theaters. Numbers don’t lie, as they say, and by that metric The Nice Guys didn’t merit a sequel.
But when was the last time anyone talked about Neighbors 2 or even The Angry Birds Movie? Meanwhile, The Nice Guys has become one of the most beloved comedies of its era. And what’s one of the things you always hear about it? “It should have gotten a sequel!” Sigh.
Gosling will next star in The Fall Guy, which opens in theaters on May 3.
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